Sunday, 17 January 2016

Kindle Book Reviews #1

I have always been a massive reader. My wardrobe at my parents house used to be stacked full of books and I'd spend absolutely hours reading. Whilst I love to hold an actual book in my hand, firstly, it's an expensive hobby seeing as I very very very rarely read the same book twice, they can be heavy to carry around in handbags for tube time reading, and the books take up SO much room at home yet I can't stand to throw them away!

For Christmas this year, I was lucky enough to get a Kindle from my parents. It's something I had always thought about buying amd umm'ed and ahh'ed over for ages.

The day after Boxing day I read my first book on my Kindle and then read a book a day for the next three days. Honestly, I did not put it down! I love how easy it is to carry around in my handbag, the books are so much better priced, the battery lasts for absolutely ages, you can read it in all lights and I can buy books instantly and store/access thousands of books any time I want. Do you need any more reasons to buy one?!

Anyway, since I'm reading much more I really wanted to share some short book reviews with you all. I know not everything I read will be to everyone's taste so I'll keep them short and have a couple of reviews on each post with each book being rates out of 5.

"Imagine for a moment, your husband leaves you. Then through a bizarre twist of events, you find yourself working with the girl he's left you for - and even worse, she's pregnant...

Louisa’s not really up to any more complicated relationships. Right now, she doesn’t need them. She has good friends, okay, even if one does have a screwed up husband and the other a horoscope habit. Not to mention the ex-husband she’s counselling about the girlfriend he left her for. There you go. So she certainly doesn’t need anyone else with problems at the moment. It would be nice, wouldn’t it, to find a straightforward man, who isn’t remotely screwed up. Now there’s a thought... Or does such a man even exist? Well, it’s okay to dream - isn’t it?

Set in the Hampshire countryside against a background of horses and vets, this is a story about friendship and love, and life's way of throwing in the unexpected..."

This book is one of those easy reads. Easy to follow, with characters to love, and a story to relate to. Most of us have probably felt at some stage of our lives/all of our lives that we're on a impossible search for the perfect man. Louisa is funny, relate-able and charming.

On the surface she’s maintaining the image of successful career woman, perfect wife and a doting mother with two wonderful children.

In reality she’s running out of hours in the day; 6 dress sizes bigger than she wants to be; and the only man who shows her any affection is her gay best friend.

In fact fantasizing about how to kill her increasingly disinterested husband is just about all that keeps Erica sane. That and a whole different type of fantasizing about the incredibly handsome new school Principal, Julian Foxham.

When her husband jokes about trading her for two size tens, Erica knows something has to change. But is another diet really the answer? Or is getting rid of him the fastest path to happiness? Now if she could only stop thinking about the gorgeous Mr Foxham…"

Erica's character is a shout out to everyone woman who is/has been under appreciated by a man. A true lesson that sometimes we need to get rid of the negativity in our lives to me happy, instead of changing to suit negative people. The story was a little too far fetched for my liking which is the only reason for the average rating.

"Poppy and Jazz have been best friends from the first week of uni. Whenever these two get together trouble isn’t far away and things haven’t changed much. When Jazz gets herself into financial trouble Poppy, being a good friend, offers to help. She instead ends up being talked into swapping lives, with Jazz insisting it will be good and help her get over her broken heart.

Poppy is thrown into a new life, full of crazy housemates; there’s fitness freak Izzy, horrendously beautiful bitch Grace and the slightly gorgeous, if not incredibly grumpy Ryan. Quickly, with the help of Jazz, her life is thrown upside down. Madness ensues and her need to please everyone gets her in more trouble than she could ever imagine.

Before she knows it she’s got a fake boyfriend and is hiding so many secrets she’s scared they’ll spill out any minute. With a bullying boss, a sex crazed colleague, a mental mother and three brothers each with their own dramas, life has gotten pretty difficult for Poppy. And all of this would be much easier, if she could just stop falling over.

Will she get her life back to normal before her brother’s upcoming wedding? And will she want to?"

This was one of those books that I totally wasn't expecting anything from. It was free, and it didn't feel particularly inspired by the front cover but this is truly a case of 'never judge a book by it's cover' because boy was I wrong. A modern day Bridget Jones story is book had me laughing out loud so many times. So many of the characters were relatable to my life and I could vividly imagine the story so well. Best book I've read in a long time, and the best part, there's more in the series!

"Mother of three and wife of John-Paul, Cecilia discovers an old envelope in the attic. Written in her husband's hand, it says: to be opened only in the event of my death.

Curious, she opens it - and time stops.

John-Paul's letter confesses to a terrible mistake which, if revealed, would wreck their family as well as the lives of others.

Cecilia - betrayed, angry and distraught - wants to do the right thing, but right for who? If she protects her family by staying silent, the truth will worm through her heart. But if she reveals her husband's secret, she will hurt those she loves most . . .

Perfect for fans of Jodi Picoult, or anyone who enjoyedOne Moment, One MorningorThe Midwife's Confession, The Husband's Secretby Liane Moriarty is about the things we know, the things we don't, and whether or not we ever get to choose. Above all, though, it's about how we must live with the consequences of our actions - whether we like it or not."

A moral dilemma start to end, I couldn't put this book down. What happens when you think your life is so perfect then everything you know and love crumbles around you in a matter of seconds? What choices will you make with new information at hand? I spent the whole of this book internally debating what I would/wouldn't do in each of the women's situations. Bringing it home than happiness can vanish in an instant so it's important to make the most of the present. The only reason this book doesn't have a 5 rating is because I wish one of the characters was developed a bit more, and I wanted the ending to go on for just a few paragraphs more...

Overall a great first four books, I'll definitely look out for these authors in the future.

It's nice to see another lifestyle blogger talking about books. I've had a Kindle for two years now and it is fantastic. You can sign up to NetGalley and download books straight from publishers if you're keen on reviewing more of them. If you ever want a recommendation, give me a shout.